Towards the Horizon

Yesterday we took a ferry over the narrow channel to the neighbour island Santo Antao, one of the biggest and most fertile islands of the Cape Verdes. After leaving the ferry tourguides try rather aggressively to get hold of tourists, but we avoided them and simply took an Aluguer up into the mountains. We then hiked through a fertile crater with old stonehouses, fields, trees… Continue reading »

After 3 days of high-speed working in the marina Pitufa is now entirely clean and saltfree, has new lower shrouds, the autopilot works again, the tanks are full, the lockers are fully provisioned, etc. and we’ve decided to stay a few more days in the anchorage of Mindelo. We like this town, the street vendors and the mercado municipal offer the best veggies we’ve seen… Continue reading »

We arrived in Mindelo, one of the bigger towns in the Cape Verde, on Saturday. After being anchored in the bay outside the marina for a couple of days, we moved into the marina yesterday in order to repair our standing rigging (we discovered a broken wire strand in one of the lower shrouds, so some of our standing rigging needs replacement). Mindelo’s got a… Continue reading »

It’s good that each of the Cape Verdean islands is unique in its beauty, otherwise the rough passages between them wouldn’t be worth it Today’s bumpy ride with quite an acceleration zone NW of Sao Nicolao (up to 35 knots) brought us to the uninhabited, ragged island of Santa Luzia, whose slopes remind of the scenery of The Lord of the Rings. Only one other… Continue reading »

With all the round trips and hiking excursion during the last week we neglected Pitufa a bit. During the last two days we’ve taken advantage of the calm anchorage of Tarrafal for some maintenance and repair work. The hydraulic autopilot will hopefully work again, the water level in the batteries is adequate and the kitchen sink now lies in a yummy wooden frame instead of… Continue reading »

After looking down from the pass next to Monte Gordo into the Faja Valley with Ribeira Brava yesterday, we returned today for a hike down into the valley. A steep footpath winds down from the mountain, providing new breathtaking views after each serpentine. The footpath is used by many people, as it’s the only direct way from the mountain villages to the capital. We met… Continue reading »

In the few days that we’ve been anchored in the bay of Tarrafal (Sao Nicolao’s main port), we’ve absolutely fallen in love with this green and mountainous island. Tarrafal isn’t a pretty town, but the bay is fairly well protected, the boats are anchored in 5 to 15 m depth where the holding in black sand is good and there’s a jetty where it’s easy… Continue reading »

We arrived on Sao Nicolao this morning, our third island in the Cape Verdes. We had an uncomfortable night passage here with quite strong winds, confused seas and high swell from the side. But the breathtaking view this morning compensated for the night: green, pleated-looking volcanic hills surround a canyon with lush vegetation, some colourful little houses on shore and little fishing boats in the… Continue reading »